Perodua to use Tan Chong assembly plant’s paintshop for QV-E

Perodua has signed an agreement with Tan Chong Motor Assemblies (TCMA) to use the  facilities at its Serendah plant for painting the fully electric QV-E which was launched at the end of 2025.

The initial agreement, described in a public filing with Bursa Malaysia, is for a period of 3 years (from June 1, 2026) with an option of continuation.

Although Perodua has an advanced paintshop at its own manufacturing complex (which is located about 4 kms from the TCMA), it is likely that the smaller volume of the QV-E makes it impractical for the high-volume facility to handle.

In fact, Perodua built a dedicated plant (also within its complex) just for making its first EV model. Again, this would be due to it being very different type of car from what the Malaysian automaker has made since 1994, and also the initially low volume. Even for hybrid electric vehicles, many local assembly plants have had to reconfigure their facilities to handle high-voltage equipment like batteries.

Supporting local ecosystem
Perodua has long made it a priority to use local resources where possible as part of its mission to develop and support the domestic automotive ecosystem. Using the facilities at TCMA is in line with that mission as the factory is owned by the Tan Chong Group, one of the oldest Malaysian car companies with a history going back to 1957.

Second Tan Chong plant
The factory in Serendah is Tan Chong’s second one, the first having been built in Segambut, Kuala Lumpur in the 1970s. It was the last of the first wave of vehicle assembly plants set up following the government’s call to automakers in the mid-1960s to assemble locally.

The Serendah plant, which began operations in late 2007, had an initial investment of RM191 million (5.5% of which was contributed by Nissan as a minority shareholder in the plant). It started off with an annual capacity of 14,000 units with potential to increase to 50,000 units a year. Being set up in the 21st century, the plant benefited from newer manufacturing technologies and processes.

Long experience in painting
This included the processes at the paintshop which will provide the exterior finish for the QV-E. TCMA has long experience with painting vehicles and in fact, the plant in Segambut was the first in Malaysia to use the Electro-Deposit (ED) system where the whole body is immersed in a large tub of primer paint.

Apart from the electrically-charged metal body attracting the paint to bond more effectively, the immersion also ensured that every square millimetre of metal was covered and protected. The ED system is today common in all assembly plants and its adoption in the 1970s boosted corrosion resistance of vehicle bodies.

This is not the first time that TCMA is providing painting services for another brand. In the 1980s, Cycle & Carriage Bintang sent Mercedes-Benz bodies from the assembly plant in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, to the TCMA plant in Segambut for painting.

Find out more about the Perodua QV-E

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